Welcome to the LISZTOCAST! Kathleen and Ryan talk to Spenser Gralla (Sweeping Promises, Creaturos, recording engineer extraordinaire) about the 1975 tour de force Lisztomania. We’ve got vampires! Space ships! Zombie Hitler! Pope Ringo! And phalluses! phalluses! phalluses!!! This movie has got it all...except a logical plot, respect for history, or character development!
Kathleen and Ryan talk to Emily Arkin (Shepherdess, Harsh Foxing) and Hilken Mancini (Punk Rock Aerobics, also Shepherdess!) about I'm Not There, Todd Haynes' 2007 film that explores the life and legend of Bob Dylan. (It also features Emily's dad! First movie we've covered to feature a guest's dad!) Along the way, we grapple with Dylan's inscrutability and singular appeal, reflect on our personal relationships with his music, and speculate about why he allegedly went looking for Bruce Springsteen's house just a few years ago. Also, who wants to be in our Bob Dylan book club?
LINK CITY:
Kathleen and Ryan are joined by Patrick Orr and Kate Richi (of the Nashville band Crave On) to piece together a portrait of the man in Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, a film that dismantles the biopic structure as we know it. Along the way, we discuss what it means to be an authentic iconoclast, how to embrace technology as an artist, and what a musician owes their fans. What is celebrity even? Are aliens being Rick rolled? So many questions!
Link city:
Article by famous author Don DeLillo: https://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/vertigo_magazine/volume-3-issue-1-spring-2006/counterpoint-three-movies-a-book-and-an-old-photograph/
Wacky Glenn Gould characters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TbYMO0nK1U
Also, check out Crave On! They are the best band. https://open.spotify.com/artist/54r1Mp0UnRYZnzziZiDhOy
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Kathleen and Ryan chat with David Rees (Election Profit Makers, Dicktown) about the 2002 movie 8 Mile. That's right, folks—we're now opening up the discussion to semi-biographical films! We talk about Eminem's slippery identity, curious Michigan accents, steamy industrial sex scenes, one of the best live music scenes we've seen so far, the thorny topic of race in this movie (and Eminem's career), and David's profound experience of first hearing Eminem on the radio in a grocery store in Boston.
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Continuing their exploration of the Beach Boys cinematic universe, Kathleen and Ryan talk to Noah Bond (Cut Worms) about the 1990 made-for-TV movie Summer Dreams: The Story of the Beach Boys. You definitely haven’t heard of this movie and there’s a reason why! We discuss the legacy of Dennis Wilson, the nuances of the made-for-TV biopic, fake hippies, Charles Manson, and BEARDS BEARDS BEARDS.
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Kathleen and Ryan talk to Evelyn Pope (The Frissons, Ashby) about the 2014 Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy...which is secretly two movies in one! Spoiler alert: we liked one and did NOT like the other! We discuss the Beach Boys' complicated legacy, bad dads, evil doctors, good wigs and bad real hair, and ideas for other Beach Boys stories we'd like to see on the screen.
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It's the return of Emeen Zarookian (Bebopalula, Don't Stop or We'll Die)! Kathleen and Ryan talk to Emeen about the 1978 movie The Buddy Holly Story, a movie RIFE with inaccuracies both biographical and technological—why is this fictionalized Buddy Holly always punching people? Why is he playing a Telecaster that didn't come out til the mid-70s!??
We dissect the goofs ad nauseum, analyze Gary Busey's wild looks and tour-de-force performance, and discuss the film's legacy as one of the first rock biopics.
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Kathleen and Ryan talk to Dan Tebo (VHS of the Week) about Backbeat, the 1994 film about the Beatles' early years in Hamburg. We discuss the cultural landscape of early 60s Hamburg, Stuart Sutcliffe's (questionable?) legacy as a painter, Sheyl Lee's heavy eyelids, and wonder what the point is of dramatizing a very undramatic bandmate departure. Oh, here's the live performance by the Gen-X dream team Backbeat studio band (Dave Grohl, Mike Mills, Thurston Moore, etc). You will NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
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Kathleen and Ryan talk to Keira Horowitz about the 2013 telefilm, Behind the Candelabra. We discuss Liberace's legacy, power dynamics in relationships, and how weird it is that a 42-year-old Matt Damn was cast as a teenager in this film.
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Kathleen and Ryan talk to Jim Leonard (of Kremlin Bats) about 24 Hour Party People, the 2002 biopic of Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. We get into why breaking the fourth wall isn't annoying in this movie, the Manchester music scene, Jim's run-in with Mark E. Smith, and the astounding charisma of the maraca-wielding Bez.
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Gilmore Tamny (The Mystery, Weather Weapon) joins us to discuss the 1986 druggy love story, Sid and Nancy. We get into the appeal of bad boys, Courtney Love, and what the heck this movie is really about.
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We talk to our pal Matt Lavallee (local Renaissance man and 50s fanatic) about Great Balls of Fire!, the 1989 Jerry Lee Lewis biopic. Listen to Matt make a compelling case for bumblegum representing "nuclear annihilation libido!"
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Kathleen and Ryan discuss the 1991 movie The Doors with their pals Nick Branigan (Hands and Knees) and Chris Braiotta (Argo Arkestra). Oh boy. This movie. Buckle up for a deep dissection of Oliver Stone's lionization of the Lizard King.
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Kathleen and Ryan discuss the 1980 Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter with their pals Carrie Furniss and Travis Hagan (of Pleaser).
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Kathleen and Ryan talk about the 2010 movie THE RUNAWAYS with their pal Coco Roy (Electric Street Queens.)
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Kathleen and Ryan chat with Joe Sutton (Sticker Shock) about the 2013 garbage fire of a film, CBGB.
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Kathleen and Ryan chat with their friend Evelyn Hurley (Cotton Candy) about the 1984 movie Amadeus. They talk about the nature of genius, musical success, Austrian culture, and—somehow—Miley Cyrus. Is Lil Nas X the Mozart of our time?
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Kathleen and Ryan discuss the 1987 movie La Bamba about the brief life of Ritchie Valens with their pal Emeen Zarookian (Bebopalula, Don't Stop or We'll Die).
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